In his introductory autobiography "The Birth of the Lion" OM C. Parkin shares an extraordinary account of awakening to REALITY after a harrowing experience of near death and his subsequent meeting of his last teacher Gangaji. Combined with questions and answers taken from public gatherings called "Dialogs of Self-inquiry" (Darshan) OM C. Parkin confronts the reader directly with the essential question: Who is the "I" to which we relate our happiness and unhappiness, our past, present, and future? At the same time, he ruthlessly unmasks the arrogance of ego, clearly revealing how the mind clings to suffering and false identification even in the face of the truth that enlightenment is now. "I am a non-traditionalist, and for whatever reasons I have been granted the grace of experiencing total Consciousness without any illusion of physical, emotional or mental limitation.I have been granted the grace of experiencing total consciousness without any illusion of physical, emotional, or mental limitation. This consciousness is what I AM. Whether the body appears or not, it doesn't matter. Only this direct experience has any authority, and this direct experience is possible for everyone. When is it possible? Now! Now is what you are searching for, and now is who searches. Everything is now. Everything dissolves into this now." OM C. Parkin